A dumpster diver in New York City posted a video showing the shameful amount of food waste their local Dunkin' produces each day.
Thrifty folks have been rescuing perfectly good food from the trash for quite a while, but in recent years, dumpster diving has been getting more attention online. Social media accounts dedicated to dumpster-diving hauls shine a spotlight on the incredibly wasteful practices of many businesses.
This video from Instagrammer LetsReduceFoodWasteNYC (@letsreducefoodwastenyc) is another recent example of the trend. "Hey guys! I'm at the Dunkin' Donuts on East 21st and First Avenue," says the original poster in the video.
They then pan across multiple huge trash bags full of food. "Guess where all your favorite donuts go?" they ask.
Digging through one of the bags reveals dozens of donuts, including an assortment of fillings and toppings. "Look at all these bags full of all your favorite donuts — in the trash," says the Instagrammer. "Look at that. Tons."
Unlike some businesses that list older food for a discount on apps like Too Good To Go, this Dunkin' seems to have a policy of simply throwing them out. Not only does this lose the business money and deprive hungry people of food, it also contributes to air pollution when these businesses get new food shipped in to replace what they threw out.
But as this IG user points out, there are other options. "If you are at your Dunkin' Donuts near closing, just ask them if you can take the remaining before they throw it out," the Instagrammer suggests. "I'm sure they'll give it to you guys."
Others have used the same method successfully, like the TikToker who discovered this hack during a visit to her local Sweetgreen.
Commenters agreed that this sweet trick is a great way to get free food. "I first got into diving because of 7/11 night donuts!" said one user.
Another user had an upsetting story to share about why some businesses waste food this way. "It's a real shame that they do that," they said. "There used to be a grocery store here in Florida that used to donate all the food at the end of the day. … They got criticized for giving them old food and created such a problem. They decided to just start throwing it away."
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